Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell.
Description of Related Art
Examples of a fuel cell that is mounted on a vehicle and the like include a fuel cell that is used as a fuel cell stack in which a plurality of unit cells is stacked. Each of the unit cells includes a membrane-electrode assembly (hereinafter, simply referred to as “MEA”) in which a solid polymer electrolyte membrane is interposed between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, and a separator that is stacked on the MEA (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 4566588).
In the above-described fuel cell, hydrogen gas is supplied to the anode electrode as fuel gas, and air is supplied to the cathode electrode as oxidant gas. According to this, a hydrogen ion, which occurs in the anode electrode due to a catalytic reaction, is transmitted through the solid polymer electrolyte membrane and moves to the cathode electrode. In the cathode electrode, the hydrogen ion causes an electrochemical reaction with oxygen in air, and thus power generation is carried out.
In this kind of fuel cell, a terminal portion protrudes from the separator. In the fuel cell, a voltage between the terminal portions (for each MEA) is detected to control a power generation state of the fuel cell.
In addition, recently, there is a known configuration in which the terminal portion is provided for each of pluralities of separators so as to achieve simplification and the like. In this case, a voltage between the pluralities of separators (for the pluralities of MEAs) is detected.